Expert Profiles

Petr Salamon

My experience with mental health crises involves diagnoses of paranoid schizophrenia and, subsequently, schizoaffective disorder. I′ve experienced several episodes, including most recently in 2024 following a change in medication. But I′ve also enjoyed a nine-year period of stability. In my self-reflection, I also focus on the specific manifestations of obsessive-compulsive behaviours and the constant need for social reassurance that accompany my diagnosis.

From a professional standpoint, I became involved with the patient organisation Spolek Kolumbus, where, as a peer journalist, I wrote articles about the Czech mental health care system. After a year of experience as a peer consultant, I decided to focus more on education and awareness-raising.

A key milestone in my teaching career was collaboration with the Polytechnic University in Jihlava, where I acquired my first teaching experience and began to experience a state of flow while in this role. This experience allowed me to find professional path that I further developed through collaborations with several non-profit organisations. Currently, I am integrating my practical and personal experiences into the academic environment at the University of Ostrava.

Miloš Neubauer

My name is Miloš Neubauer. I served a prison sentence, after release from which I had nowhere to go, and ended up on the street. It took me a long time to find my way to the Salvation Army, but I couldn′t stay there for long and soon found myself back at a homeless shelter, which wasn′t great for me either. I did have a place to sleep, but in the winter, I ended up back on the street. As a result, I ended up in the hospital. After my release, at my request, I moved into a flat. But it didn′t last long; the police came for me to serve a sentence that had been postponed for health reasons, but they didn′t care about that.

For several years now, I′ve been an expert with lived experience at the Faculty of Social Studies. I also performed in a theatre of the oppressed on the theme of homelessness organised by Aslido (Association of People for Home). Now I work with the Faculty when I have time. Due to illness I′m on disability, and have limited mobility.

Evžen Vojkůvka

I′m an active retiree, and throughout my life I′ve learned both to give and to take. I′ve lived on the streets and know how difficult it is. This experience led to my decision to help people and seek solutions to their difficult life situations. Therefore, I decided not to keep to myself the experiences I′ve gained along this journey, but to pay them forward to the next generation and thereby dispel societal myths and biases. That is why I welcomed an opportunity from the Faculty of Social Studies, where I can attend classes with students and share my experiences with them as an expert with lived experience.

Theory is one thing, real-life practice and experience another. I have drawn on my many years of experience in both my personal and social life (in England, Brussels, Scotland, and, not least, at the Faculty of Social Studies, which, for example, taught me various communication methods).

In addition, I serve as the chair of the Association of People for Home (ASLIDO). My hobbies include cooking, baking, embroidery, and crafting items from paper rolls.

E-mail: vojkuvka.evzen@seznam.cz

Robin Štoček

Hi, my name is Robin, and I have personal experience with substance addiction. I went through the rehab at the Pocestný mlýn therapeutic community and subsequently at the Renarkon aftercare centre, where I also learned about experts with lived experience. Even today, I still spend time among people struggling with addiction, but as a support person, not as a user. Part of this is my work at the Faculty of Social Studies, which also helps my own recovery.

E-mail: stocekrobin@gmail.com

Katka Hájková

I′m an expert with lived experience. My past is a colourful story filled with drugs, theft, and other crimes that led to a prison sentence. I accept my past as a part of who I am — and not just because I have a dark side. Thanks to my past, I′ve been given the opportunity to work at the University of Ostrava, where my experiences can benefit both students and staff.

Mirka Slívová

I′ve been involved in the sex industry for more than twenty years and have held nearly every role within it. Thanks to this, I see this field comprehensively—from the perspective of a woman offering sex, as a business owner, a client, partner of a woman working in the sex industry, and even a child who has experienced abuse. This journey wasn′t easy, but it gave me a deep understanding. Today, I use that understanding to speak openly about the reality of sex work, break down distorted perceptions, and help people see beyond stereotypes.

Lucka Ochwatová

My mental illness crept up on me unexpectedly, as if out of the blue. It was a long haul. What kept me going was mainly my family, my daughter, and people facing similar challenges — and the chance to talk to them and share my struggles and worries. I believe that words have great power. They can help in all areas of life. A word is not just a word. A word has energy. That is why I use words to share my experiences with students and others, whose understanding and acceptance I find to be very important on the path to recovery from mental illness.

Sabina

My name is Sabina and I′m from Ostrava. I′m a trained photographer with additional training in business, a course in social services, and also a course in mental health peer counselling.

I had a difficult childhood, which included the breakdown of my family and my parents′ separation when I was 12. I was left alone with my mother and my disabled little sister, for whom we took turns caring. Even at that young age, I had thoughts of death and leaving this world, as I always felt like I didn′t belong here. In my youth, I found my place in the rock, metal, and goth subcultures…precisely because of the melancholy, gloom, and morbidity which resonated with me. At age 24, I decided on my own to seek help from a psychiatrist. At 25, I was hospitalised for the first time and diagnosed with bipolar disorder with elements of schizophrenia. I also encountered the sex industry for the first time at age 25. At 27 (2017), I nearly became a member of the “27 Club” because I fell into severe depression… thanks to a lack of self-preservation instinct, I tried drugs for the first time, which restored my zest for life… and so I spent my weekends visiting dance clubs with electronic music and experimenting with narcotics. In early 2019, at almost 29 years old, I began a relationship straight out of a fairy tale—a mix of Pretty Woman and The Stepford Wives—which eventually led to frequent cocaine and alcohol use and ended in domestic violence.

Kristián Kutáč

My name is Kristián, but that hasn′t always been my name. I′m someone who has undergone a transition and has also lived with drug-resistant epilepsy for quite a few years. Thanks to that—and also to Robin, another expert—I became part of the Experts from the University of Ostrava group.

I studied social work first at a college and then at university. Social work showed me that obstacles exist only in our minds and that everything that happens to us in life has a higher purpose. This also led me to my life motto: “In everything give thanks!” Thessalonians 5:18.

Even though gender is a sensitive topic today and part of political and cultural wars, students are increasingly turning to me, and I can share my experiences with them. They then incorporate these into their work, which I greatly appreciate, and I hope this continues.

Jana Kurková

At age 22, I was diagnosed with Crohn′s disease, an autoimmune condition. Living with this disease involves a constant cycle of remission and severe flare-ups. Despite intensive therapy, however, my condition gradually worsened due to repeated abscesses, inflammation, and fistulas. For these reasons, I underwent a temporary ileostomy, which was converted to a permanent one after a year. Due to a non-functioning sphincter, my colon and rectum were also removed. Today, I live a full and meaningful life, striving to use my experience to support others. I work at the patient organisation České ILCO, z.s., which helps people with stoma cope with a difficult post-surgery period and return to normal life. Support, awareness, and sharing my own experience are my key values.

The moments when I share my story are a form of therapy for me — each time, I realise just how much my body and I have managed to overcome. I enjoy working on my personal growth, and the greatest reward for me is the opportunity to volunteer and help other ostomy patients as a volunteer while they go through a similar journey. In my leisure time, I like to relax by painting, gardening, working out at the gym, and practicing yoga.

Miroslav Keleš

I started out in a children′s home and with foster parents. Life has given me more obstacles than certainties, but it has taught me how to fight. I′ve been through situations that can break you but also can shape your character. Hockey gave me discipline, structure, and the strength to get back up to my feet every time I fell. I was lucky to meet people who gave me the opportunity for self-realisation at the right time. Thanks to them, I still believe in people and in a better world. I believe that every person deserves a chance. My goal is to make children′s lives easier and better. To be a source of support where it′s often lacking. The past doesn′t define me but rather gives me direction. IG mirakelly_88

Emil Kraus

My name is Emil Kraus, and I′m a university expert with lived experience. I grew up in foster care. At first, my guardian was a foster father, then my sister, and now my guardian is a woman from the municipal office.

I have experience with a state residential facility where I lived for part of my life. From there, I moved through a transitional flat to supported housing provided by Slezská diakonie. After a year there, they told me to find my own place. I currently live in my own flat.

I have recent experience in a sheltered workshop at the Trigon organisation, specifically in the woodworking and gardening workshops, then in the Bikes for Africa project. Currently, I work as a cleaner in a company. I′ve also been receiving a partial disability pension since 1996.

Jakub Kremer

My name is Jakub Kremer, I′m 32 years old, and I use a wheelchair. I′ve been involved with the Faculty of Social Studies, University of Ostrava for several years, focusing on personal and sexual assistance, and I′m not afraid to address topics that are considered taboo. I′ve spent my whole life helping others and striving to live a full life. I′m constantly working to educate myself in various fields. My motto is: “What doesn′t kill you makes you stronger.” I enjoy walks in nature, the theatre, and especially the Hurvínek character.

Roman Šimek

My name is Roman Šimek. I′ve experienced life in a juvenile correctional facility from age of 12–18. I have 30 years of experience with (non-alcohol) drugs and have lived on the streets. I′ve undergone two therapeutic programs. Now I′m in a transitional flat at an aftercare centre. I enjoy tattoos, painting, and table tennis. The motto I live by is “What doesn′t kill me makes me stronger” by Friedrich Nietzsche.

Gilbert Noam

My name is Gilbert, and I have experience as a trans person. In the past, I was involved in various LGBTQ+ organisations, and for some time I served as a mentor for people going through the coming-out process. As an adult, I also discovered that I′m on the autism spectrum, so I know how difficult it can be to grow up without a diagnosed disability and to face situations where, due to stereotypes, those around me sometimes don′t believe me. Meeting people with a similar or even different complex experience has been life-enriching and supportive for me. That′s why I want to share my own experiences and talk about how lived experience doesn′t always fit textbook descriptions, and can be much more diverse.

Updated: 25. 05. 2026